A flying squad of the Andhra Pradesh Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (APRSASTF) from Tirupati on Sunday nabbed six smuggling operatives from Tamil Nadu, and seized eleven red sanders logs, four two-wheelers, an SUV and a luggage van near Anjeramma Kona toll plaza, 10 km from Puttur.
According to the Task Force officials, the squad party, acting on a tip-off about the movement of the consignment towards Chennai, laid in wait at Anjeramma Kona ghat, a few meters away from the toll plaza in the morning.
Two youth, who were serving as pilots on motorbikes, were stopped and taken into custody.
On information from the duo, the police intercepted two more youths on bikes, followed by the SUV and luggage van. In all, six accused – identified as Balasubramanayam of Sirkai; Saravanan of Tiruvallur; Ramesh, Sanjiv, Ramky of Pallipattu and Srijith of Chennai (all in the age group of 25-45) were nabbed.
The task force officials said that as per preliminary investigation, the accused had procured the logs from the foothills of Seshachalam in Tirupati and were proceeding to Chennai.
A case was registered and the accused were sent for remand.
